Express News Service
RANCHI: In yet another incident of mob lynching in Jharkhand, two tribal youths were burnt alive by the villagers in Jharkhand’s Gumla, allegedly for raping a minor girl from the village. Both were rushed to the hospital but one of them succumbed to his injuries during treatment, while the other one is still struggling for life.
The youth, who lost his life, has been identified as Sunil Oraon, while the other one as Ashish Oroan, both supposed to be close friends of each other. The incident took place at Amba Toli village under Basua Panchayat, about 18 km from district headquarters in Gumla late in the evening on Wednesday.
According to the police, the girl had gone to a relative’s place in Lohardaga to attend a function along with her mother and aunt. While returning home on Wednesday, they were standing at the bus stand, during which, two youths of her village reached there on a bike and asked why they were standing there.
“After a brief conservation, they offered the girl to drop her home as the bus was getting late. But, instead of dropping her home, they took her to the nearby jungle and raped her one by one,” said Gumla Sub-divisional Police Officer (SDPO) Manish Chandra Lal. After the incident, they dumped the girl near her home, he added.
After reaching home, according to SDPO, she told her father and brother about the incident. Enraged over the incident, the girl’s family members and a few other villagers started looking for them and found them at Ashish’s house. After a brief altercation, they convinced both Sunil and Ashish to come with them saying that a Panchayat has been called to settle the matter.
“Once they reached Amba Toli, the motorbike was set ablaze by sprinkling petrol on it and the two youths were beaten up by punches and bamboo sticks. After thrashing them badly, the two youths were also put on fire after sparkling kerosene oil on them following which, they ran towards their respective home and took shelter over there,” said the SDPO.
Later, police were informed and they were rushed to Sadar Hospital in Gumla from where they were referred to Rajendra Institute of Medical Sciences (RIMS) in Ranchi, he added. “Sunil Oraon succumbed to his injuries during treatment, early in the morning on Thursday, while Ashish Oraon is still struggling for life,” said the SDPO.
An FIR has been lodged in the incident against 5 named and 10-12 unknown persons, he added. One FIR has also been lodged from the girl’s side against the two persons – Ashish Oroan and Sunil Oroan.
SDPO said the girl has filed a complaint with Sadar police station alleging rape and has been put under medical supervision. Meanwhile, the family members calling it lynching, have demanded action and compensation accordingly.
